


No Accounting for Weather

by DeathByStorm



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alive Champions (Legend of Zelda), Banned Together Bingo Prompt Fill, Fluff without Plot, Huddling For Warmth, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Love Confessions, M/M, No Importance, Post Game, Revali is a tsundere, completely self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25297486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathByStorm/pseuds/DeathByStorm
Summary: Just two dudes cuddling in a cave together because of a snowstorm.Or in which Revali had a carefully constructed plan to confess his feelings to Link, but mother nature has a different idea.
Relationships: Link/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 295
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	No Accounting for Weather

**Author's Note:**

> Of course the quick drabble I decided to write as a break from another fic I'm writing grew into a full sized fic. This is probably the most self indulgent thing I've written in a long time. 
> 
> As always, beta'd by my partner in life and crime, [Eilera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eilera/pseuds/Eilera)
> 
> All remaining mistakes are my own.

The freezing winds tore at the entrance of their makeshift shelter. It was cold, colder than it had been even a couple of hours ago even though it should have been the warmest part of the day. Revali had to hand it to Link. He sure knew how to survive in the elements. Revali leaned against the cave wall with a sigh.

His plans for the day, before Hylia herself had apparently seen fit to intervene, had been carefully arranged. First, ask Link to go on a hike with him. Next, take him up to the Hebra summit, so that he could confess his feelings in the perfect setting with the whole of Rito Village and the surrounding landscape below them. Finally, Link would gloriously and happily say yes.

They hadn’t expected the unseasonable weather. It was the middle of summer for Hylia’s sake! What business did a snowstorm have to bear down on them like this? The wind howled outside. Okay, make that a blizzard.

Now look at them. They were stuck in a cave in the middle of a snowstorm with the weak fire that Link had managed to build crackling between them.

He heard a weird clicking sound across from him. Great. Apparently there was some vermin to contend with too.

“Do you hear that?”

Link shook his head as the strange noise intensified. _I don’t hear anything._

“It isn’t very loud. Perhaps the Rito have better hearing than you Hylians. It sounds like this.”

Revali clacked his beak but the sound wasn’t quite right.

 _It’s my teeth._ Link’s hands were shaking as he signed. _They’re –_ Revali didn’t recognize the sign.

“What does this mean?” Revali mimicked the unfamiliar sign as best he could.

 _C-H-A-T-T-E-R-I-N-G_ Link painstakingly spelled out. _It means I’m cold._

Indeed, Link was shivering quite violently now that Revali took a moment to look. It hadn’t been noticeable in the dim firelight.

“Of course you are.”

Revali regarded him for a moment longer before he opened his wings. It wouldn’t do if Link froze to death before Revali could confess his feelings, and if Revali was going to enjoy having Link close to him, well no one needed to know that.

“Just so you know, this doesn’t mean that I like you. I just don’t hate you enough to let you die out here.”

Link rolled his eyes, but his lips quirked up into a smile. _I wouldn’t have expected anything else._

“Just get over here would you?”

Link crawled over to him and fell into his arms. He cuddled up close without hesitation, pushing a leg in between Revali’s and somehow managed to elbow him in the stomach in the process. Revali let out an indignant squawk. Link froze and began to pull back.

“No, no you’re okay,” Revali said. “Just stay still.”

At that Link settled into his embrace with a little more care than before.

Link sank his fingers into Revali’s feathers in search of warmth and burrowed so close that his nose was a cold point of contact at the base of Revali’s throat. After a few more minute adjustments, Link finally relaxed.

If it was even possible, Revali would say that his shivering got even worse as he began to warm up. Revali ran his hands up and down Link’s back in an attempt to hasten the process. Oh Hylia, he should’ve noticed Link’s predicament and offered earlier.

“Seriously, why did you come out here in just your regular Hylian clothes?” Revali muttered. Link was like a leech attached to his body. Granted, he was a welcome leech, but it was still a dumb move on Link’s part.

Link reluctantly released his tight grip on Revali’s feathers so that he could reply. _Spicy elixir just in case, but it wore off._

“We were significantly delayed, weren’t we?” Revali said.

Link buried his hands back into Revali’s feathers with a happy sigh. Absentmindedly, he patted Link on the head. His hair was almost as soft as Revali’s own down feathers. It had a glossy texture that was unlike anything Revali had ever felt. It was much nicer than he expected.

_Revali?_

“You seemed like you needed it. Besides turnabout’s fair play and you do have a deathgrip on me.” Revali lifted his hand away anyways and immediately missed the feel of Link under his fingers.

_Fair enough._

Link stuck his hands back in Revali’s feathers with a happy sound, clearly having taken Revali’s comment as an invitation to check out the different types of feathers that Revali possessed. There were the shorter ones on his neck. The longer ones on his crest were especially nice, if Revali did say so himself, as well as the glossy primaries on his wings of course. He took exceedingly good care of them.

 _They’re so soft!_ Link exclaimed. His eyes were fever bright as he continued to explore. _You okay with this?_

Frankly, he should’ve asked earlier but – “Yes,” Revali croaked. “I’m okay with it.”

More than okay.

 _You know,_ Link signed shyly, his face flushed red from the cold. _You can touch too. Like you said, turnabout’s fair play._

Revali didn’t reply verbally and instead moved on from Link’s hair to his skin himself. It was soft in a completely different way than Revali’s feathers were. Link smiled up at him and leaned his face into his hand without hesitation. Revali stroked it wonderingly. To think that he’d be able to get this close. He didn’t even notice that Link had stopped reciprocating, too enraptured with the look on Link’s face.

Link jerked and whimpered as Revali brushed a hand against Link’s ear and this time Link gently moved his hand away.

“Sensitive there?” Revali asked in a hushed voice.

To his gratification, Link’s face went beet red as he nodded. Revali was a little flustered himself, but he wasn’t about to let Link know that. Link instead began to fiddle with Revali’s hands, a curious look on his face. Oh. He’d probably never been this close to a Rito before. Revali splayed his fingers so that Link could weave their hands together.

Link burrowed his head under Revali’s beak and finally settled, content with his exploration.

Maybe now was a good time to tell him.

“Link, -” he started and then trailed off.

Link perked up and looked at him expectantly.

“Link I-”

Revali suppressed an irritated sigh. Why was it suddenly so hard to speak? Apparently, Link had stolen his voice when he’d caught feelings for him. Link separated their hands so he could reply which was a great loss in Revali’s opinion.

_What is it?_

“I-” Words failed him. He was the Rito Champion. He was one of the few who faced and defeated Calamity Ganon. The best Rito archer that ever lived. He was quite a catch if he did say so himself. There was no reason for him to be as nervous as he suddenly felt.

 _It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,_ Link said.

“I want to,” Revali blurted out. “I’m just having trouble finding the words.”

Link said nothing but just watched him, waiting for him to continue or not.

“I … don’t hate you.” Revali said eventually

Revali’s chest shook as Link dissolved into laughter. _Was that really so hard to admit?_

Harder than you know.

“That’s only half of it.”

Link begin to breathe faster. Tremulously, Link signed. _What’s the other half?_

Link leaned away from Revali’s chest so he could meet his eyes. Even though he was essentially straddling Revali’s lap, he almost immediately began to shiver again. 

_Revali?_

“I need to word this right,” he muttered resisting the urge to pull Link back into his embrace. “I don’t dislike you either. In fact, I – will you stop giving me that look?”

_What look?_

“That hopeful one.”

Link turned away so that Revali couldn’t see his face. _Better?_

“How is that in any way better?”

_You can’t see me._

Revali sighed in exasperation. “That isn’t what I meant.”

He reached out to turn Link back towards him. Link must’ve seen his hesitation out of the corner of his eye, because he took Revali’s hand before he looked back up at him. The hopeful expression was still burning in his eyes. Link always had to be the contrary one, didn’t he?

Revali opened his mouth to speak, and then paused and took stock of their situation. They were currently cuddled together because of the blizzard outside. If Revali were to confess now and Link said no, it would be horribly awkward as neither of them could escape each other. Not that he doubted that Link would ever say no. In fact, how could Link be anything but over the moon with happiness that Revali thought he was someone worthy of dating, and maybe his feather if all went well? He shook the last thought off. He was getting ahead of himself

“On second thought, I think I’ll tell you after we get back to the village.”

Revali still wanted his confession to be more grandiose than in a makeshift shelter in the middle of nowhere thrown up to keep the worst of the wind out. Link deserved the perfect moment and something that would be allow him to truly appreciate how much Revali liked him. No. He would simply have to try again.

It still felt like cowardice.

_Can I say something?_

The nervous look on Link’s face looked out of place.

“I doubt I could stop you,” Revali muttered.

_I like you._

That might have been a relief to him if Revali hadn’t already known that.

“Well, of course you do. How could anyone not dislike the great Champion of the air?”

 _I’m serious!_ Link signed and Revali settled down. Link hesitated for a second, with a nervous expression. He took a deep breath before continuing. _More than I should given how you’ve treated me in the past._

“I guess I could have been a bit nicer. And I’ve been nicer since. You’ve proven your worth as a warrior after all,” Revali said. “Ganon’s dead, you freed the Divine Beasts. We’re all alive for a given value of alive. You helped do that.”

_True._

Truth be told, sometimes at night the unfeelingness of death would creep back into Revali’s bones. It wasn’t cold, like people imagined it to be, though it was probably the second closest descriptor for it. It was just a deep, physical nothingness that went on and on. He shivered at the memory. 

_Revali?_

“Sorry, I was lost in thought,” Revali said. He dismissed the last threads of those dark thoughts as best he could. Now was not the time.

_Here I am confessing to you and you don’t even seem to notice._

Wait a moment.

“I beg your pardon?”

_Like I said, I like you. A lot!_

Oh. It turns out he hadn’t been misreading Link at all.

Link, apparently tired of repeating himself chose to kiss him on his beak instead.

“Oh, so that’s what you meant,” Revali said weakly. “Well, at least you have good taste.”

Of course Link in typical Link fashion had beaten him to the punch.

Link snuggled back up to him. _The best._

“Hey Link,” Revali said. “Would you like to learn how Rito kiss?”

Link perked up and nodded.

“Alright,” Revali said. He shifted Link in his arms so that they were facing each other. He cradled Link’s jaw in his hands and brushed his beak against Link’s cheek. He pulled back in time to watch Link blush furiously.

 _Again_.

And Revali obliged.

*

The blizzard died down shortly after dawn. The sudden quiet woke Revali who nudged Link awake.

“I think it’s over,” Revali said. “We should get going.”

Link blearily looked up at him and then thunked his head down on Revali’s chest. _Five more minutes._

“As gratified as I am that you find me an acceptable bed, the others will be worried about us.”

Link’s grip tightened on him.

“You’ve really turned into a lazy lump since the princess released you from her services.”

_Please?_

And how could he resist those pleading eyes?

Revali settled back with a sigh. “Fine, but just five more minutes.”

Link settled down and promptly went back to sleep.

Ten minutes later, Revali nudged Link awake and they reluctantly disentangled themselves from each other. They emerged out onto a clean snowfield that would likely melt away in the mid-morning sun.

“Ready?”

Link squeezed his hand and nodded.

Together they walked down the path hand in hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Art created for this fic by Eilera


End file.
